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McCutchen fourth in NL ROY vote

McCutchen fourth in NL ROY vote

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By Jenifer Langosch
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MLB.com |

PITTSBURGH -- In his first season with the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen hardly came up short of the expectations that trailed him through the Minors. The center fielder did, though, when it came to nabbing National League Rookie of the Year honors.

McCutchen finished fourth in voting announced Monday afternoon, cast by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Florida's Chris Coghlan narrowly beat out Philadelphia's J.A. Happ to win the NL award. Oakland closer Andrew Bailey won the American League honors.

Coghlan led the all NL rookies with a .321 batting average, 84 runs scored, 31 doubles and a .390 on-base percentage and received 17 of the 32 first-place votes. His point total of 105 was 11 more than Happ's, even though the Phillies rookie was the only NL player to actually appear on all ballots cast.

McCutchen, 23, received two first-place votes and five second-place votes for a total of 25 points. Pirates first baseman/right fielder Garrett Jones picked up two third-place votes and finished seventh in the voting. That marked the first time since 1999 that the Pirates have had two rookies finish in the top 10 for the award.

McCutchen, Baseball America's Rookie of the Year, led all NL rookies with 47 extra-base hits despite not being in the Majors for the first two months of the season. The former first-round Draft pick finished with a .286 average, 26 doubles, nine triples, 12 home runs, 54 RBIs and 22 stolen bases in 108 games.

Jones' inclusion in the Rookie of the Year discussion was a byproduct of all that power he showed during his three-month stint with Pittsburgh in 2009. Jones led all rookies with in home runs (21) and slugging percentage (.567).

Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.